I was just sitting here thinking about the many, many conversations I've had with people over the years that have revolved around God and our relationship with Him. I was thinking about all the ways in which I've been taught by others and the ways in which I've taught. I was thinking of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Paul, James and all the other writers in the Bible. All the words that have been shared by them and me and others.
I was thinking about how I've got a lot of doctrine about God. So much of it is really great! I'm very thankful that I have a doctrinal understanding of God and His grace, and that I'm still learning and growing. I was thinking about this, and I was overwhelmed for a few seconds with the wonderful sensation that even with all that I know about God, and even with the way that I've come to know Him personally and relationally, I DON'T HAVE HIM PEGGED, not even for a minute! I don't have Him figured out at all! And that's a good thing.
The truth is that we've been made new creations, and we have a brand new identity in Him, and we are one Spirit with Him. We have a communicative relationship with Him, in which He speaks to us, and us to Him, and He interacts with us, and we can know Him intimately... and it's ALL good!
But yet with all that I know, and with all that you know, and with all that all of humanity knows about God, and with the ways in which people know God intimately... and with all our doctrinal understanding, no matter how true or accurate it is... there is soooo much about God that we either think we know that isn't really so, or that we just plain don't know at all, and we hypothesize and we extrapolate and we articulate and we dialog and we share and we proclaim and we lecture and we listen and we infer and we establish doctrines and so on and so on - you get the point. And all the while, even in the midst of all our God-knowledge and all our God-ignorance, He loves us unconditionally and is full of grace toward us, every single second of our lives!
By all means let's keep up the dialog! Let's keep on sharing and learning and extrapolating and all that good stuff! We can most certainly be bold with what we believe, even with the understanding that we really hardly know a thing about God! He's revealed Himself to us in many ways, and I believe He wants us to communicate all of that with one another. I think what I'm saying is simply that I'm humbled that this wonderful God, who has a billion true and false things said about Him every single day, even from the likes of you and me, continues to love and adore us, and keep us in His limitless grace!
This also gives me humility in sharing truth with others. Holy cow... anything that I know that is true isn't a result of my wonderful thinking powers! He's GRACIOUSLY revealed it to me, and I want to be very gracious and loving in my sharing with others. I want to speak with clarity and boldness, and with great patience, kindness and love... and always with my heart and mind open to what God has to say to me through others, even if that means it penetrates and cracks open my own preconceived ways of seeing and understanding things.
Grace Roots Blog
Showing posts with label humility. Show all posts
Showing posts with label humility. Show all posts
Monday, March 09, 2009
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Fear and Trembling - Not "afraid"
After Adam and Eve were created, they walked in freedom with God. They had no reason to be afraid of God. I imagine that at first they walked in reverential awe and wonder of this God who had created them in His image and was near to them and had given them Life and freedom in paradise. However, immediately after the Fall, they suddenly became afraid of God. God called out to Adam, and Adam replied, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself" (Gen 3:10). Again, before that, Adam had never known "fear" (being afraid of God). I doubt that he had ever previously had the slightest inkling of hiding from God.
In Christ, it's made clear that we've been brought near to God by the blood of Jesus (Eph 2:13). He Himself is our peace (Eph 2:14). "Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (see Rom 5:1-5). There is no reason to be afraid of the One with whom you have peace!
And yet I've seen verses such as Philippians 2:12-13 being greatly distorted by those who have preached it. "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure."
For one thing, from what I understand, "your own salvation" is in the plural sense, as in, "you Philippians as a whole, as a body, as a church, this is something you do together." And with the phrase "work out" added in, the phrase becomes even more widely misconstrued in the church today. In the chapter, Paul is talking about the church being of one accord, having the same mind that Christ had - humbling Himself, making Himself of no reputation, etc. As saved people (not by works, but by grace through faith), they were to, as a body, work out (not work "for") what was already in them in the form of loving and serving one another in humility. In other words, let there be an outward working (an outward showing) of the inward mind of Christ, through humility and love towards one another.
And they were to do it with fear and trembling. Does that mean "being afraid?" They had peace with God, not enmity. No reason to be afraid. They were to be of one accord with one another, not afraid of each other! With awe and reverence, love and humility - towards God and towards each other - they were to live out this salvation that had been freely given to them. And the last part of the verse is so huge as to how this all works out: "for it is God who works in you to will and to do for His good pleasure." The "working out" of our salvation is really God's work in us!
"There is no fear in love [agape]; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment." (1 John 4:18). The "afraid" kind of fear that Adam had is in diametric opposition to the "awe and reverence" kind of fear that we have in our lives in Christ. God loves us; we love Him. Jesus humbled Himself in order to give us His life. He didn't come to punish us, condemn us or torment us, but to give us perfect agape love. Our salvation is lived out, not from a position of being afraid of God, but from a position of humility, honor, awe and respect for the God who loves us and has given us His life in place of our own.
In Christ, it's made clear that we've been brought near to God by the blood of Jesus (Eph 2:13). He Himself is our peace (Eph 2:14). "Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (see Rom 5:1-5). There is no reason to be afraid of the One with whom you have peace!
And yet I've seen verses such as Philippians 2:12-13 being greatly distorted by those who have preached it. "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure."
For one thing, from what I understand, "your own salvation" is in the plural sense, as in, "you Philippians as a whole, as a body, as a church, this is something you do together." And with the phrase "work out" added in, the phrase becomes even more widely misconstrued in the church today. In the chapter, Paul is talking about the church being of one accord, having the same mind that Christ had - humbling Himself, making Himself of no reputation, etc. As saved people (not by works, but by grace through faith), they were to, as a body, work out (not work "for") what was already in them in the form of loving and serving one another in humility. In other words, let there be an outward working (an outward showing) of the inward mind of Christ, through humility and love towards one another.
And they were to do it with fear and trembling. Does that mean "being afraid?" They had peace with God, not enmity. No reason to be afraid. They were to be of one accord with one another, not afraid of each other! With awe and reverence, love and humility - towards God and towards each other - they were to live out this salvation that had been freely given to them. And the last part of the verse is so huge as to how this all works out: "for it is God who works in you to will and to do for His good pleasure." The "working out" of our salvation is really God's work in us!
"There is no fear in love [agape]; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment." (1 John 4:18). The "afraid" kind of fear that Adam had is in diametric opposition to the "awe and reverence" kind of fear that we have in our lives in Christ. God loves us; we love Him. Jesus humbled Himself in order to give us His life. He didn't come to punish us, condemn us or torment us, but to give us perfect agape love. Our salvation is lived out, not from a position of being afraid of God, but from a position of humility, honor, awe and respect for the God who loves us and has given us His life in place of our own.
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